Ably assisted by Natalie Villacorta, with a contribution from Sarah Wheaton

REID: HOBBY LOBBY FIX ON TO-DO LIST — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the floor yesterday that Democrats are going to do “something” in the coming weeks to address the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case last month. Democrats have decried the decision and vowed to restore the coverage requirements, though they’ve not yet outlined specific plans for legislation. Sen. Patty Murray is taking the lead on the legislative effort and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has said he will introduce a measure that would require corporations now exempted from the Obamacare mandate to disclose their coverage policy to their employees and job applicants. http://politi.co/1n8vaBH

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NY LEGALIZES MEDICAL MARIJUANA — The state where your PULSEr spent the holiday weekend has become the 23 rd to allow marijuana use for medical purposes, although it will have one of the more restrictive programs in the country. Yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ceremonially signed the new law, which gives patients with one of 10 diseases access to non-smokeable versions of the drug which can be ingested or vaporized. The Capital New York story: http://bit.ly/1r41yWJ

Good Tuesday morning, PULSE readers. I was rather surprised and delighted to find that my baby news resulted in more email responses from you all than I’ve ever received on any other single topic. Many thanks for your well wishes and tips. Now I’m wondering whether soliciting college fund donations would elicit a similar reaction. If so, you know where to find me: pcunningham@politico.com and @pw_cunningham. Also, be sure to follow @POLITICOPro.

“I'm reaching out for an opening. I'm getting lost in the PULSE while I sleep.”

NIXON VETOES NAVIGATOR BILL — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a bill yesterday that would have required criminal background checks for navigators, blaming a conservative group for introducing an error into it. The bill would bar anyone with past convictions involving fraud or dishonesty from receiving a navigator license. Nixon said the bill cited a reference to the wrong federal law — one that deals with alcohol abuse rather than fingerprinting for background checks. The AP story: http://bit.ly/1ky0pS3

PAT ROBERTS: A CASE STUDY — POLITICO’s Manu Raju offers us a look at the toll the tea party has taken on Sen. Pat Roberts, who’s been forced to shift to the right on all sorts of issues — including how he responds to Democrat-backed legislation like Obamacare. http://politico.pro/1spFMN9

WAYS AND MEANS ASKS COURT TO DISMISS SUBPOENAS — The House Ways and Means Committee asked a district court judge last week to dismiss subpoenas requesting information about possible insider trading violations. The SEC is investigating whether Brian Sutter, the committee’s top Republican health care aide, leaked information about Medicare Advantage payment rates that may have led to a spike in the shares of health care companies. House lawyers argue that Sutter’s activity was “legislative,” shielding him under the “Speech or Debate Clause” in the Constitution. They want the subpoena dismissed or the case transferred from the U.S. district court in New York to the one in D.C. The SEC has until this Friday to respond.

JUDGE TO SCOTUS: SHUT THE EXPLETIVE UP — Federal judge (and George H.W. Bush appointee) Richard Kopf has some advice for the Supreme Court: STFU. For those who don’t know what this acronym stands for, Kopf helpfully links to Urban Dictionary in a post on his personal blog blasting the high court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case.

--“To the average person, the result looks stupid and smells worse," he wrote. Noting that the majority opinion was signed by five male, Catholic judges appointed by a Republican, he says that makes the decision look misogynistic, partisan, and religiously motivated — and says the court is now causing more harm than good. “As the kids say, it is time for the Court to stfu,” he writes. The post: http://bit.ly/1qccWOX

SMS HOTLINE FOR BIRTH CONTROL Q’S – Send a text with the phrase “birth control” to 69866, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund will respond with ways to get more details about contraception coverage. The group is capitalizing on the Hobby Lobby and Wheaton College rulings, but with grandfathered plans and insurers’ varying procedures, there are still plenty of other reasons women might still be denied birth control with no cost sharing.

BUFFER ZONE FALLOUT — Yet another “buffer zone” law could go by the wayside now that SCOTUS has ruled against Massachusetts’ law. The Portland City Council is considering repealing its 39-foot no-protest zone around the only abortion clinic in the city, the Bangor Daily News in Maine reports. Anti-abortion demonstrators, who have already been challenging the law in court, say they’ll press on with their lawsuit regardless of what the city decides. Meanwhile, Madison, Wisconsin, has also decided to stop enforcing its buffer zone law. The BDN story: http://bit.ly/1qcSD3Q

COME ONE, COME ALL! — The Koch brothers-backed, youth-focused nonprofit Generation Opportunity invites you to an anti-Obamacare carnival on the National Mall later this month. Play the “Dropped Coverage” dunk-tank game and you may find yourself swimming in a “high-risk pool.” Or test your strength and see your premiums explode. The group plans to take the “Care-nival” on the road, mobilizing young Americans in around a dozen states against the Obamacare “freakshow.” Watch the group’s dizzying new video, featuring a creepy clown, a strongman and a fire breather: http://bit.ly/1mshroM And remember their creepy ads last fall? Yeah: http://bit.ly/1hVNZAY

CANCER ADVOCATES HIT THE HILL — Cancer patients, survivors, volunteers, doctors and researchers plan to meet with lawmakers today to ask for more funding for research and prevention, which has undergone sequestration cuts in recent years. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and 24 other organizations participating in the “One Voice Against Cancer” lobby day want $5.26 billion for the National Cancer Institute. They also want Congress to restore the share of NIH funds devoted to cancer research and increase funding for the CDC to support cancer prevention, screening programs and state registries.

TEACHING DOCTORS ABOUT QUALITY-BASED PAYMENTS — As doctors are being trained, they also need to learn about the new kinds of quality-based payments that CMS and insurers are experimenting with to improve the country’s health care. That’s according to the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, which has appointed 12 industry leaders to a panel and charged them with developing a roadmap for accomplishing that goal. Members hail from the AMA, the AHA and various other groups. The announcement: http://politico.pro/1rJfAiM

GINGREY: IMMIGRANT KIDS POSE HEALTH RISK — Rep. Phil Gingrey, chairman of the GOP Doctors Caucus, says the undocumented kids recently crossing the southern border could be bringing infectious diseases with them and he wants the CDC to assess the risk to the public. “As the unaccompanied children continue to be transported to shelters around the country on commercial airlines and other forms of transportation, I have serious concerns that the diseases carried by these children may begin to spread too rapidly to control,” he wrote to the agency. The letter: http://politico.pro/1mCjgRA

RESULTS OF FDA RESEARCH ON E-CIGS COULD BE YEARS AWAY — The FDA is dropping $270 million to clear the smoke around the health consequences and usage patterns of e-cigarettes. Some of its funded researchers are scouring Facebook for insight onto how users boost their nicotine levels, while others are conducting surveys to find out whether e-cigs are hooking nicotine newbies or helping smokers quit. Final results may not be available until 2018, but once they are, FDA tells Reuters it won’t take many years to develop regulations. The Reuters story: http://reut.rs/1kxryog

Some still lack coverage after the ACA due to website glitches and backlogs, in the Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/1jiqkCw

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Authors:

About The Author

Paige Winfield Cunningham is a health care reporter for POLITICO Pro and co-author of the morning newsletter Pulse. Previously she reported for The Washington Times’ political team, covering elections, Congress and health policy, including the 2012 Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act.

Cunningham grew up in St. Louis and attended college in the Chicago area, graduating from Wheaton College in 2006. She spent most of her time at the Wheaton Record, where she served as features editor, but made sure she still had time for playing violin in the conservatory orchestra.

Cunningham covered county government for the Naperville Sun right out of college, but when the paper filed for bankruptcy, she decided it was time to move on. She moved to the D.C. area in 2009 to report on Virginia government and currently lives in that state with her husband.